1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a surface inspection apparatus and method of inspecting surfaces of semiconductor chips using the same, and more particularly, to a non-destructive surface inspection apparatus for semiconductor chips and a method of inspecting surfaces of semiconductor chips non-destructively using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various non-destructive inspection technologies have been suggested and used for surface inspection of semiconductor chips. However, the conventional non-destructive inspection apparatus usually requires a minimal defect size and the absence of foreign matter on a surface of the semiconductor chips for sufficient accuracy of the surface inspection. Particularly, when foreign matter is not sufficiently removed from the chip surface, the inspection accuracy is remarkably decreased. This can be the case even in a situation where a minimal amount of foreign matter is present.
In addition, the conventional non-destructive inspection is usually performed on each chip on a wafer sequentially, one-at-a-time. This necessarily requires a large amount of inspection time, which significantly reduces the overall manufacturing efficiency of the semiconductor chips. Particularly, as wafers continue to become enlarged in size and as the number of the chips on a single wafer also continues to increase, the surface inspection time for the chips is being rapidly increased. For that reason, the reduction of the surface inspection time becomes a significant factor for maintaining or improving manufacturing efficiency of the semiconductor chips.
Furthermore, an optical inspection technique, one of the most widely used non-destructive inspection techniques, is sensitive to the surface conditions of the chip and the presence of a minor amount of foreign matter on the surface tends to cause an inspection error and finally to interrupt the operation of the inspection apparatus, which results in a great increase of the inspection time for the semiconductor chips.